On Praying the Rosary

Our Lady has made several requests of the Batavia visionary regarding Rosary devotion. In addition to asking that it be recited with great reverence, she gave certain instructions about praying it and asked that they be included in her book, Personal Revelations of Our Lady of Light, Vol. 3, along with selected meditative readings for each mystery. Here are her words from a message to the visionary on October 7, 1994:

“My child, it is my desire that the prayers of my Holy Rosary be included in my book (Personal Revelations of Our Lady of Light) for the benefit of those of my children who do not know how to pray the prayers of my Rosary or who may have forgotten them.
 
As I have spoken many times, my Rosary and my Scapular shall be my weapons against the works of the fallen angel and shall bring about the triumph of my Immaculate Heart. I wish all of my children to wear my Scapular and to pray the Rosary from their hearts so that I may continue to help them and to save them.
 
Be at peace and walk always in humility. Stay focused on Jesus.
 
I am your Mother and thank you for your response.”

History of the Rosary

At one time, the Rosary was called the Pater Noster Beads. This term named a string of 150 beads on which were recited a succession of Pater Nosters (Our Fathers). To this very day, a street in London, England, is still called Pater Noster Row, the street where those beads were at one time made. The number 150 originally came from the number of Psalms in the Old Testament, recited or chanted by the monks during the Divine Office in the course of the week, but eventually replaced by Pater Nosters for the benefit of an uneducated populace which could not read the Psalm verses.

By the 13th century, the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) prayer had become popular so, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic, the 150 beads were divided into groups of ten Aves, each group being called a decade (a group of ten), and framed by a Pater Noster and Gloria Patri (Glory Be) prayer on either end. Each decade featured a short meditation on an event in the lives of Jesus and Mary, each meditation being called a mystery. The 150 Aves, then, were divided into 15 mysteries: five of them Joyful, five Sorrowful, and five Glorious. That succession of Aves came to be called a Rosary, a chain of roses to honor Mary, and referred to as a series of rose-like kisses from the lips of the beseecher.

The Mysteries Expanded

For almost 800 years, the Rosary was recited as a 15-decade meditation. For practical considerations, rosary beads were eventually looped into 5-decade groups, linked by intermediary beads to a terminating crucifix for ease of carrying in pocket or purse. In the year 2002, Pope John Paul II, as part of his crusade toward a return of the Rosary as a popular prayer of the faithful, added an additional five decades, called the Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light. These mysteries present a number of important events from Christ’s public life not previously emphasized as part of the Rosary sequence, thus bringing even greater light to His messianic role on earth. So now, with the inclusion of the Luminous Mysteries, more than ever the Rosary can truly be called “the Bible on beads.”

May 31, 1993 – Message to the Batavia Visionary
Say the Rosary to Jesus
 
…Our Lady told me that when my time is taken by earthly tasks, I should say the Rosary to Jesus, which is a good way to bring me and everyone else closer to her Son, Jesus. Her Rosary is simple and easy to do.
 
On the Crucifix say, “My Jesus, I believe.”
On the large (Our Father) beads say, “My Jesus, mercy.”
On the small beads say, “Jesus, I trust in you.”
At the end of the small beads, and before the large bead, say:
 
“My Jesus, I place myself and all that I have in Your hands.”